Listed companies’ pretax profits hit 10-year highBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe nation’s listed companies posted pretax profits of NT$1.26 trillion (US$42.7 billion) last quarter, up 26.6 percent year-on-year and the highest first-quarter performance in the past decade, data released by the Financial Supervisory Commission showed. The overall pretax profits of all 946 firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) grew 27.31 percent year-on-year to NT$1.14 trillion in the first quarter, also the best performance in 10 years, commission data showed. However, the financial sector posted a decline in pretax profits because of lower investment income due to interest rate increases and uncertainty on financial markets amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The photovoltaic and plastics sectors also posted contractions in pretax profits as rising inflation reduced demand, TWSE data showed. Pretax earnings posted by the 794 firms listed on the Taipei Exchange (TPEX) grew 11.63 percent year-on-year to NT$76.8 billion last quarter, also the best performance in 10 years, commission data showed.

Source: Taipei Times May 26, 2022 20:31 UTC